Lyricist? Don't know the difference between Staley and Cantrell, but Cobain is super "woe is me". AIC was more drug induced.
Vocalist? There is no contest. Staley could almost make me hard...almost...okay, kinda make me hard. Broner.
Frontman? "See as in, discolored skin gives you away"...yeah.

Just what they meant to you. AIC was the first band to show me what music could be. That it could be something that resonates with you, something that doesn't you know, guide you through your life, but makes it better nonetheless. And it's just the two of them because that's how it played out. If Cornell and met an untimely demise, he'd have been thrown in there too.